Volleyball Blanked by Eastern Connecticut

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- The Mitchell College women's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 non-conference setback against Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday night at the Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

The Warriors won by set scores of 25-19, 25-22, and 25-21. The loss snapped the Mariners three-match winning streak and dropped their record to 6-3 overall on the season. 

Olivia DeLoach paced Mitchell with 11 kills and 13 digs, both team-high marks. Allison Blum added eight kills and 10 digs, while Molly Steel-Miller registered seven kills, and Claire Binfield racked up 28 assists. It marks the fifth time this season that the senior setter has surpassed 20 assists in a game. Binfield also had four aces, another high for the Mariners. 

Eastern wasted no time flexing their muscles, scoring the first four points of the opening set. The Mariners answered immediately, however, scoring four straight to tie it. The Warriors continued narrowely to pull ahead, but Mitchell remained within shouting distance, working the score tied at 9-9. A kill by Anna Barry followed to put the Warriors ahead, and they would not look back, scoring four straight points which led to a Mitchell timeout, then scoring five consecutive out of the break. The Mariners clawed back to trim the deficit to four behind a pair of kills by Steel-Miller, but ECSU hung tough to take the set. 

The second set was neck and neck, with Eastern continuously pulling to a slim lead, with Mitchell rallying to tie the score. DeLoach tallied a key kill to knot the set at 17-17, before Blum picked up a kill to give the visitors and one point lead, 19-18. Three straight points by Eastern put the Warriors ahead by two, and following a timeout they scored two of three to lead 23-20. Two consecutive points, including another kill by Steel-Miller, made it a one point set, but ESCU once again closed strong to take it by a 25-22 final. 

The Mariners came out strong in the third set, building a 17-13 lead. Eastern again responded, rattling off five consecutive points to tie the score. The two teams traded scores following a Mitchell timeout, before ECSU eventually pulled away by scoring the last three points, capping the night with a match-ending kill by Meg Verizzi.

Anna Barry led Eastern with a match-high 14 kills, while three Warriors finished with double-digit digs, and Meg Verizzi dished out 37 assists.

After three games in a row on the road, Mitchell will return home for their next match on Thursday, September 22 against Nichols College at 6:00 pm.